Marchers urged not to attack foundation of democracy

ISLAMABAD: The journalists community and members of the human and civil society organizations on Monday underlined the need to work for rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution and urged the marchers not to attack the very foundation of democracy to achieve their undemocratic political agenda.

They expressed these views at the “Pro-democracy” camp set up in front of the National Press Club (NPC) by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in coordination with Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) and civil society organizations that has become an open platform for all segments of the society where one can give vent to one’s feelings and emotions towards democracy.

RIUJ President Ali Raza Alvi said that this was only the first government that saw a transition from one politically elected government to the other and in the long run it was this peaceful and democratic transition that could ensure a more responsive, egalitarian, and inclusive democracy in Pakistan.

“A change in the culture and politics of Pakistan would need time and would depend upon long-term political reforms and even if these marchers come to power tomorrow, they will still have a long road ahead of them,” he said.

RIUJ General Secretary Bilal Dar said the statements given by reputed and senior politician Javed Hashmi had raised the eyebrows of the people who had started thinking whether all these protest marches and sit-ins were ‘scripted’ anywhere and if this was the case then it would cause a severe blow to democracy.

“The current political crisis has already caused loss worth billions of rupees to our national economy so the marchers should think about the country and its people many of whom are finding it hard to make their both ends meet.

These leaders should adopt constitutional means and raise their voice at the political and legal forums to resolve their issues,” he said.Social activist Alya Mirza said that Dr Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan could have mobilized their followers to bring aid to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) but unfortunately during the 18 days in sit-ins they never ever bothered to even mention the plight and grievances of these people who had left their homes to secure future of Pakistan.

She said, “The people stand for the continuous progress of democracy and democratic norms and traditions in Pakistan and are opposed to this new wave of agitational politics that may topple the elected government but it would badly hurt the long-term democratic aspirations in the country.”

Famous artist Jamal Shah said that it was highly unfortunate that some political groups had made the country hostage through confrontation and violence and their leaders were not ready to take care of supremacy of the Constitution, so the people were really worried about the future of democracy in Pakistan. “We are with democracy and would not backtrack from our stance because our politicians had made mistakes in the past and now there is a time to move ahead following true spirit of the democracy. The majority of the political parties have showed their support for continuity of the democratic process despite having severe political differences with the incumbent government,” he said.

Fayyaz Gillani, a social activist, said that there was a need to set aside personal interests and work for the betterment of the country and those political forces that thought that they could bring any positive change through confrontation and violence were at the wrong end.